Rockaways, Queens subway service begins again on A train
After five months of no trains to the Rockaways, the A train — New York City's longest subway line — is once again operational from end to end.
'We're announcing … the full restoration of service,' Gov. Hochul told reporters Monday from beneath the newly-rebuilt Hammels Wye viaduct.
All subway service to and from the Rockaways was halted in mid-January so that crews could tear down the Y-shaped junction known as the Hammels Wye viaduct and rebuild it.
Crews also gutted the South Channel Bridge just north of the junction and replaced its motors, gears and controls. The swing bridge's frequent failures have plagued the A train with delays for years.
The Rocakways renovation project also includes a major shoring up of the four miles of subway tracks over Broad Channel and Jamaica Bay.
'Decades of wear and tear from brutal storms and neglect from previous administrations that did not make the proper investments — it was literally falling apart,' Hochul said of the tracks that bring the A train over Jamaica Bay and onto the Rockaways. 'There was no other choice than to replace the whole section.'
The outage made Rockaway residents reliant on buses and the LIRR to get to Manhattan, and Monday marked the first time in four months that Rockaway residents could jump on a subway to get to work.
'The MTA did deliver this restoration work on budget and on time,' Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said Monday. 'Let's give it up for a project actually taking as long as the MTA said it would take — I think we can clap for that.'
Though the bulk of the work is completed, MTA spokeswoman Meghan Keegan said Rockaway residents can expect scattered weekend outages through the summer of 2026 as the MTA works to wrap up the $600 million Rockaway Line Resiliency and Rehabilitation Project.
The work that remains includes a new elevated signal tower at Beach 105th St., new interlocking infrastructure, and structural repairs along other sections of the Rockaway line.
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